UC: Nippert expansion changes the financial game

Sep. 14, 2013

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University
of Cincinnati

Total spending: About $49 million What it comes from: $22 million from UC general funds, including $8.4 million from student fees – or $515 per student Bottom line: UC can support current level of success. Competing for national championships might be more expensive.

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If there were three barriers to long-term financial stability for University of Cincinnati athletics this year, UC is ready to knock down one of them.

When it’s finished in 2015, an $86 million expansion of Nippert Stadium could generate as much as $3 million a year after paying for construction, “changing the financial model” of the entire operation, Athletic Director Whit Babcock said.

The challenges that remain are daunting, though, starting with $100 million in debt on the Varsity Village complex. The department’s $6.2 million in debt payments this year make up more than 12 percent of the total sports budget.

Looming over the entire program, too, is UC’s membership in the American Athletic Conference rather than one of the big-money conferences that would ensure its ability to compete at the highest levels of intercollegiate sports.

“The issue of conference realignment completely determines the bottom line,” President Santa Ono said. “That is the pivotal point on whether it’s a money-maker or not.”

Both UC football and men’s basketball make money, earning combined surpluses of nearly $3 million, according to the latest numbers the university reports to the Education Department.

Non-revenue sports spend more than $7.5 million a year, though, meaning the entire athletic budget depends on investments from the university’s general fund.

“We’ve achieved a lot on a low budget,” Babcock said. “I just hope we can have steady, responsible growth.” ⬛